Video shows El Paso prisoner being shot while in custody

Edwin Delgado, San Antonio Express News :
June 18, 2014

SAN ANTONIO -- The city of El Paso released a video Tuesday that shows an inmate being shot to death while in custody, following an open records request by the El Paso Times.

Daniel Saenz, 37 when the incident happened, was shot by Officer Jose Flores on March 8, 2013.

Saenz was taken to a local hospital after strange behavior at a supermarket. Once in the hospital, he allegedly attacked an off-duty officer, which led to his arrest, the El Paso Times reported.

The shooting took place after Flores and another unidentified officer were struggling to take Saenz, who was handcuffed, from the El Paso County Jail to a hospital for treatment after repeatedly banging his head against a doorway inside the jail. The struggle continued until Flores pulled out his gun and fired a single shot.

Saenz was taken to a hospital where he later died.

According to the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, officers had used their tasers on Saenz with little or no effect, which was the reason Flores instead opted for his firearm. A grand jury declined to indict Flores in the shootings because of "the totality of the circumstances, which include the long sequence of events that came before the shooting itself."

According to television station KVIA, Saenz was a bodybuilder, and had a criminal history and previously had been arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, family violence and assault of the elderly.